Actress-writer Sukhmani Sadana excited about her upcoming OTT shows

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Actress-writer Sukhmani Sadana excited about her upcoming OTT shows

Actress Sukhmani Sadana is all set to feature in two OTT shows in October. The ‘Tandav’ and ‘Manmarziyaan’ actress will be seen in ‘Apharan 2’ and ‘Those Pricey Thakur Girls’ on two different OTT platforms.

In a candid chat with IANS, Sukhmani shared her excitement about the two shows.

“I am very excited for these two series. I have worked very hard on both the shows for all of 2021,” said Sukhmani, who is also a writer and has penned films for Kunal Kohli, Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury, Endemol, Balaji and Netflix.

She added, “Playing two diametrically opposite characters in them, quite often going through an emotional storm while playing these characters. It’s funny how both of them are releasing in the same month. So, I’m looking forward to the upcoming month.”

Sukhmani has been featured in shows like ‘Sacred Games’, ‘Heart Break Hotel’, ‘Parchayee’ and ‘Short Stories by Ruskin Bond’.

Saif Ali Khan: Success is measured in strange, different ways

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Saif Ali Khan: Success is measured in strange, different ways

Actor Saif Ali Khan is overwhelmed with all the love coming his way for his performance in ‘Bhoot Police’. He says success is measured in strange and different ways and that in a pandemic, it can be called a feather in his cap.

Saif said: “There are certain scripts that you read and fall in love with immediately because you see the potential they hold. You find it important that it gets made in a certain way because you have a lot of hope with that kind of script. Bhoot Police is certainly one of them!”

The actor says the film is very close to his heart and thanked everyone who is associated with it.

“I would also like to thank my co-actors Arjun, Yami and Jacqueline – Arjun especially, because we were in it together from the beginning and it was a lot of fun jamming with him on our scenes together.”

He added: “Thank you everybody for all the love and happiness. Success is measured in strange and different ways. And especially in today’s times, in a pandemic, I think we can really call this a success and a feather in our caps.”

Saif said that horror and comedy are genres that are best viewed collectively in a group.

“This is a family movie and you can watch it with your young children without them getting scared and that’s always lovely. We are very happy with the enormous traction the movie has received.”

Ananya Birla announces her debut album ‘Bombay Basement’

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Ananya Birla announces her debut album ‘Bombay Basement’

Singer-songwriter Ananya Birla announced her debut album ‘Bombay Basement’. Ahead of the full release of the album, Ananya released the music video of the lead track ‘When I’m Alone’ on Tuesday night. The video also marks her maiden innings as a music video director.

Recently Ananya teamed up with AR Rahman for the official Cheer4India song of the Indian contingent for the Tokyo Olympics, ‘Hindustani Way’.

Elaborating on how the album shaped up, Ananya informed, “Bombay Basement’ was borne out of a jam session in the basement of my Bombay residence, with a couple of friends. I had a lot I wanted to write about and share and it all just kind of clicked.”

Including the lead track, there are six songs in the album – ‘Give Me Up’, ‘Deny Me’, ‘Do It Anyway’, ‘Tu Hi Mera Ghar’ and ‘Old Me’.

“The range of the songs take you through multiple shared emotions but through the lens of my individual experiences.”

The entire album which was conjured up during the pandemic, hints at themes such as self-love, racial discrimination and toxic relationships in a nonconformist manner. Weaving in influences of breakbeat, pop, jazz, blues and R&B, the catalogue of radio-ready jams showcases Ananya’s sonic evolution whilst attempting to break free from the confines of language and genre.

“Over the last few months, I’ve witnessed a number of life-altering experiences that nudged me to retrospect on the experiences that have shaped me. Life is a series of transactions, some that occur to shape you and some that teach you how change is the only constant,” she expressed.

Elaborating further, what the other music videos from the album have in store, she said, “In the accompanying music videos I’ve tried to lend a more personalized touch and give my fans a slightly unrestricted access into my personal space. I’m excited to see what my fans think of it.”

The self-taught santoor and guitar player has been propelled from low-key gigs around London to performing at some of Asia’s biggest music events including Global Citizen, Oktoberfest and Sunburn, and opening for artists like Wiz Khalifa and Coldplay.

Her songs, ‘Let There Be Love’ and its remix version, ‘Day Goes By’ with Jamaican-American Sean Kingston, was well-received around the world.

The other hit songs to her credit are ‘Hold On’, ‘Meant To Be’, ‘Circles’, ‘Livin’ the Life’ (remixed by Afrojack), ‘Better’.

Her first EP ‘Fingerprint’ with UMG and Island Records, included the single ‘Blackout’ featuring Nigerian hip-hop singers Vector and WurlD.

‘Bombay Basement’, will be released on her YouTube channel and across all major streaming platforms every week throughout October 2021.

Book portrays 20 years of Kareena Kapoor in Bollywood

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Book portrays 20 years of Kareena Kapoor in Bollywood

‘From Nazneen to Naina’, a book on 20 years of actress Kareena Kapoor Khan in Bollywood, was officially launched here.

Authored by Canadian journalist Gurpreet Singh, the book is based on her film career.

Kareena has been under constant backlash for marrying a Muslim man, adopting Khan as her last name, and naming two of her sons — Taimur and Jeh, which have been interpreted as an affront by the self-styled defenders of religion.

“This is a reflection of the growing intolerance in a toxic political environment created by those in power both within and outside the Indian film industry,” said the author virtually in the book launch on Tuesday.

The book talks about Kareena’s work and goes into the details of her performance as an actor, and as an activist and philanthropist, trying to make connections between the present political situation and its impact on the cinema.

It looks deeply into the challenges before her for being a flag bearer of secularism which is despised by the religious bigots.

Her significant screen roles, as someone who stands up against hate, have been underlined in the book, which also attempts to make a critical assessment of her position on issues, such as racism, feminism, environment and state violence.

Kathryn Hahn to play comedy icon Joan Rivers in ‘The Comeback Girl’

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Kathryn Hahn to play comedy icon Joan Rivers in ‘The Comeback Girl’

Actress Kathryn Hahn will be seen playing Joan Rivers in “The Comeback Girl,” a limited series.

It is in development at Showtime, produced by Warner Bros. Television, Atlas Entertainment and Berlanti Productions, reports variety.com.

In addition to starring as Rivers, Hahn will also executive produce “The Comeback Girl”, Greg Berlanti will direct and executive produce and Cosmo Carlson will write and executive produce.

Carlson, a two-time Black List screenwriter wrote “The Comeback Girl” as a spec script. With Atlas Entertainment’s Richard Suckle and Robert Amidon behind the project, Suckle and Carlson brought it to Berlanti and Sarah Schechter of Berlanti Productions, who signed on.

Rivers died at age 81 on September 4 several days after she’d stopped breathing during a routine endoscopy on her throat.

She had been a revolutionary figure in the world of stand-up comedy, especially as a woman and particularly during the 1960s, when her star began to rise in New York’s comedy scene.

She also began her run of appearances on “The Tonight Show” in the mid-1960s, which eventually led to her becoming Johnny Carson’s regular guest host on that show in the 1980s.

The two had a bitter falling out in 1986 after she went to the nascent Fox network for her own show, called “The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers”. In doing so, Rivers became the first woman to host a late-night talk show but also Carson’s competition.

He said he hadn’t heard the news from her, which hurt him, and he banned her from “The Tonight Show”.

“The Comeback Girl” is primarily set in the aftermath of the cancellation of “The Late Show,” which coincided with Rivers’ husband (and “Late Show” producer) Edgar Rosenberg’s death by suicide.

Hahn was nominated for an Emmy for “WandaVision” and will soon be seen in Apple TV’s “The Shrink Next Door”. She recently completed filming on Rian Johnson’s “Knives Out 2”.

Top Pak actress Ayeza Khan recreates hit Sridevi song

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Top Pak actress Ayeza Khan recreates hit Sridevi song

Leading Pakistani actress Ayeza Khan has mesmerised her millions of fans by recreating the dance moves of late Bollywood star Sridevi on the hit Lata Mangeshkar song, ‘Mere Haathon Mein’, from the 1989 film ‘Chandni’.

Taking to Instagram, the ‘Mehar Posh’ actor shared her video in which she can be seen dancing on the song featuring Sridevi and Rishi Kapoor, The News reported.

Ayeza, who is the most followed Pakistani celebrity on Instagram with 10 million followers, wrote, “Up next Geeti ki shadi… Are you ready?? ”

The video has won the hearts of her fans on social media, the report said.

Recently, Ayeza had revealed that late Bollywood star Sridevi will always be on the top among her ‘favourite’ actresses and that she has been an ‘inspiration’ for her, both as an actress and a mother.

Ayeza had said, “Among so many of my favourite actresses, Sridevi has and will always be on the top. It’s a pity that she left us so soon. An inspiration for me, as an actress and a mother.”

Kangana targets Alia for appearing in ad, says it is ‘anti-Hindu propaganda’

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Kangana targets Alia for appearing in ad, says it is ‘anti-Hindu propaganda’

Actress Kangana Ranaut, most recently seen in the Jayalalitha biopic ‘Thalaivii’, took to her Instagram account on Tuesday to call out actress Alia Bhatt and her commercial for a jewellery brand that questions the tradition of ‘Kanyadaan’.

In the commercial, Alia’s character, a bride, is seen wondering if women were ‘paraya dhan’ (someone else’s wealth) meant to be given away to a man during ‘Kanyadaan’. The bride declares at the commercial’s end: “‘Kanyadaan nahin, kanya maan’ (Don’t give away your daughter as a gift; give her respect).”

Kanagana put up a long post on her Instagram account, highlighting the importance and history of ‘Kanyadaan’ in Hindu culture. She also accused the brand of engaging in “anti-Hindu propaganda” and asked her followers to seek a ban on the advertisement.

In the caption, Kangana wrote: “Humble request to all brands… don’t use religion, minority, majority politics to sell things… Stop manipulating naive consumers with shrewd divisive concepts and advertising.”

In another post, where she explained Hindu marriage traditions, she added in the caption: “Don’t become a pest who loves to abuse and condemn Hinduism just because it is the most tolerant religion.”

Comedy is a difficult thing to do: Samantha Akkineni

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Comedy is a difficult thing to do: Samantha Akkineni

Telugu actress Samantha Akkineni realised how difficult it is to make people laugh only after she completed her 2019 film “Oh Baby”. She said this after receiving the Best Actress in Leading Role (Telugu) Award at the South Indian International Movie Awards (SIIMA).

In the movie, Samantha plays the role of Baby, an aged woman, who magically becomes younger overnight. She then re-lives all her dreams and aspirations that she could not realise earlier in life.

Speaking about doing the film, Samantha said in a conversation with an interview: “I remember the reason why I wanted to do this film was that I wanted to break free from the heroine-oriented, social message-driven films. Comedy was very new to me but I always felt that I should give comedy a try and I am really glad that I did it because I had so much fun and I also realised that comedy is very, very difficult.”

The actress, who has a series of hit Telugu films in her kitty, gained a new perspective on actors who are masters of the comedy genre. “Comedy is even more difficult than emotional scenes. It’s difficult to achieve the timing, and the pauses. I appreciate comic actors all the more now after working in ‘Oh Baby’,” says the actress.

To be seen soon in “Shaakuntalam”, a film based on the mythological character, Samantha believes a good film is possible only because of a good team.

Talking about her “Oh Baby” experience, she said: “I also got to work with such an amazing team. I judge the success of a film by how happy I was during the shoot. That process is very important to me and I enjoyed going to work every single day when I was shooting for ‘Oh Baby’. I enjoyed working with Nandini Reddy and all the other actors and the technicians.”

Although Samantha was unable to attend the awards event, and actor Nani received her trophy on her behalf, she said the film was a hit in her mind even before it was released because the process of making it involved so much fun.

“The response of the audience and the box-office was the cherry on the cake because it was already a huge success in my head even before it was released,” Samantha said in her IANS interview. “I am so glad that even today when I go out, not just young people, but even older women come up to me and say that ‘Oh Baby’ is their favourite film. I am really honoured and humbled by the fact that I was able to make that connect with different generations.”

The actress concluded by saying: “I am really privileged to be an actor for these reasons. The way I connect with the audience and the way the audience connects back with me is a most special feeling.”

Arjun Kapoor: My fitness journey has changed the way people look at me

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Arjun Kapoor: My fitness journey has changed the way people look at me

Actor Arjun Kapoor, who has battled obesity and gone through a physical transformation, says his fitness journey has changed the way people look at him and that the film offers coming to him have also changed.

Arjun said: “People have been kind enough to notice my transformation. My fitness journey has not only changed the way I look at food, nutrition and fitness but it has also changed the way people look at me. The opportunities and offers coming to me have also changed.”

Arjun will have some exciting new announcements as he ventures into the food and fitness space.

The actor added: “I have definitely initiated multiple conversations to explore myself in the food and nutrition space and I’m excited for some of the things that will materialise soon. I will be in a position to share more concrete details in the days to come.

Arjun, who currently awaits the release of his next ‘Ek Villain 2’, says he wants to be a part of ventures that are “aiming to revolutionise the fitness space.”

Aalisha Panwar opens up about her wish to play a cop

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Aalisha Panwar opens up about her wish to play a cop

Actress Aalisha Panwar’s short film ‘Blind Love – Part 2’ is currently streaming and the actress shares her excitement on the same.

Speaking more about the film Aalisha says: “The whole experience of working in the film is great. I have debuted in short films with ‘Blind Love’. It’s a simple love story of a boy and a girl named ‘Naina’ played by me. This was the first time where I have played a character of a visually impaired girl so, a lot went into preparing for the character.”

What are her expectations from Blind Love 2? “While working on the first season, we as a team of ‘Blind Love’ could have never predicted the result. As an actor I have put my heart and soul to ‘Naina’ and the result is in front of us. As a team, I would definitely want season 2 to do well. We have shared a great working equation and it’s an experience for life time,” shares the actress. ‘Blind Love 2’ is directed by Prradip Khairwar, and also stars actor Shagun Pandey.

After debuting in short films will she try doing web series, films on OTT platforms? She replies: “Why not? I would prefer a role that can be relatable and I can experiment with. I would love to entertain my audience with my performance. I have a wish-list of playing a uniformed officer, maybe an investigator. I just love the overall personality and aura they carry. I am sure I will be able to do justice to that.”

Speaking about doing a bold role on OTT Aalisha says: “It depends why and what I will be offered. There is a very thin line. Obviously, just for the sake of doing it I will never do something like that.”

So do you consider OTT has become a boon post pandemic? “Not during the pandemic only because it has always been a boon as I have mentioned as an actor, I love to show my variations and this platform allows me to do that.”

“I have done good quality work on television but you need to explore further. Many actors have shifted their gear from television to digital and I would like to do the same. What I am today television has made me and I am grateful to all my fans and audience. Television is a very respected medium and this shall remain like that,” she concludes.

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